The present invention relates to a flap drive system for a flap mounted in a movable manner on the body of a piece of furniture.
WO 2006/099645 A1 discloses a flap mounted in a movable manner on the body of a piece of furniture with a mechanical actuating unit having an actuating arm which can be connected to the flap and an energy accumulator which acts on the actuating arm. Furthermore, an electric motor for driving the flap is provided as an integral component of the mechanical actuating unit. A flap drive system with constructional units or components which are closed off from one another is not disclosed.
FIG. 1 shows a mechanical actuating unit according to the prior art which is mounted on the body 8 of a piece of furniture via a base plate 9. The mechanical actuating unit has in this case an energy accumulator 13 for acting on two actuating arms 10, 11. The actuating arms 10, 11 are, on the one hand, articulated to the base plate 9 and, on the other hand, articulated to a fitting part 12 of the flap 4. The actuating arm 10, and thus the flap 4, can be driven via an electric motor 7.
Drawbacks of the prior art include, on the one hand, the fact that a decision, once made, for a purely mechanical actuating unit or a mechanical actuating unit with an integrated electric motor may be altered only by way of a complete exchange of the mechanical actuating unit for a unit with or without an integrated electric motor. In other words, it is not possible to retrofit a mechanical actuating unit, which has already been installed in the body of a piece of furniture, with an electric motor. If the electric motor has to be exchanged due to a defect, this requires the entire mechanical actuating unit to be taken apart or the entire actuating unit with the defective electric motor to be exchanged for an actuating unit with an intact electric motor.